Tamara Pennington, a biology teacher at Windsor High School, is a finalist for the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers. / Erin Udell/ Beacon

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Windsor High School biology teacher Tamara Pennington knows her way around a classroom.

Walking from table to table and enthusiastically asking questions, the longtime teacher exudes a certain confidence and ease around her students, which makes it easy to see why she’s a finalist for Colorado’s Outstanding Biology Teacher Award.

Given through the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), the award will ultimately go to one biology or life science teacher who teaches in grades seven through 12. In addition to the honor, the winner also will receive a microscope, a plaque, one year of membership to NABT and recognition at the organization’s professional development conference.

“Just to be nominated is amazing,” Pennington said, adding that the awards committee visited her classroom Friday to observe and ask her questions.

While she said the committee remained tight-lipped on how many other teachers they’re considering for the award and when the winner will be announced, they did tell her something else.

“On their way out they said, ‘You have wonderful kids,’ ” Pennington said. “And I do. They want to learn, they work hard, they’re generally interested in what we’re learning.”

Pennington — who was nominated for the award by two people, including one anonymous person and a community member — teaches ninth to twelfth grade biology and has been at Windsor High School for seven years. Before that, she taught in Lakewood and has been teaching for a total of 19 years.

After growing up on a dairy farm in Pierce, Pennington said she, her husband and two daughters, ages 13 and 10, moved back to Northern Colorado to be near her parents, who live in Eaton.

Three or four years ago, Pennington said she won another award, this one for excellence in teaching through the Colorado Association of Science Teachers.

“She is just a wonderful teacher,” said WHS chemistry teacher Glenn Peterson. “She is committed to her classroom, she puts in a ton of effort all the time.”

“And she’s tough,” he added. “She’s tough on her kids because she expects the best from them and gets the best from them. They come out of her class with a great education.”

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Her students also really like her, Peterson said.

“She’s a teacher that kids are always stopping by to see and to let her know how they’re doing in college,” he said.

According to some of her students, Pennington goes above and beyond when it comes to teaching.

“She puts a lot of extra effort in our classes and is really invested,” said Jenna Fischer, a sophomore at WHS.

“She’ll meet with you before or after school,” sophomore John Francis added. “She’s here a little more than other teachers, and I think that means a lot to her students.”

According to Peterson, Pennington also sets the bar high with her work outside of the classroom — and country. Both Peterson and Pennington have led groups of students to Costa Rica and Panama, where they get to experience a different culture while also rescuing turtles and rebuilding habitats for species on the verge of extinction.

“It’s constant with Tammie,” Peterson said. “She’s always thinking biology, living biology and trying to improve her students and her world.”